Title: The Signing of the Declaration of Independence in a History Class
Authors:
1. Jonathan M
2. Jessica K.
(Parts 1 and 3 written by Jonathan M; parts 2 and 4 written by Jessica K.)
Use the guiding questions that we came up with in class to describe a standards-based lesson. This lesson could be one that you make up or one that you watch on video. Important: Be sure that your learning objective aligns with a curriculum standard.
I. Standard Benchmark(s) and Learning Objective:
DEMONSTRATE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRINCIPLES ARTICULATED IN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY:**
Explaining the major ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence and their sources. [Marshal evidence of antecedent circumstances]
Demonstrating the fundamental contradictions between the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the realities of chattel slavery. [Consider multiple perspectives]
Drawing upon the principles in the Declaration of Independence to construct a sound historical argument regarding whether it justified American independence. [Interrogate historical data]
Comparing the Declaration of Independence with the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and constructing an argument evaluating their importance to the spread of constitutional democracies in the 19th and 20th centuries. [Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas]
These standards taken from Joyce Appleby, The National Standards for US History.
Now obviously all of these standards cannot be met in one class session but the main idea of our lesson is to allow the students a chance to achieve a greater understanding of July 4th, 1776. Our objectives are as follows.
Students need to learn the definition of the following terms and phrases:
"self evident"
"all men are created equal"
"unalienable rights"
"life"
"liberty"
"the pursuit of happiness"
II. The Learning Environment
In order to teach the Declaration of Independence in a valuable way, the organization of the classroom is such that the students are able to interact with each other, pay attention to the teacher, and take note of historical material. Desks for each student should be placed together in the class room in the form of a U, with the teacher placed at the opening of the U, so that the students can easily interact with one another, pay attention to the teacher, and engage in class discussions all at the same time. Behind the teacher and facing the students should be a blackboard; hung onto it should be a poster or pictorial representation of the final version of the Declaration of Independence so students have an idea of what it truly looked like. To provide an even better understanding of who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence should be a poster of the painting of the meeting of the Founding Fathers. These posters will provide a better way to help the students understand the topic. In addition to posters, what should be provided to each student is a piece of paper that has on it the main ideas stated within the Declaration of Independence, in bullet point form, clearly written and stated in wording that makes sense to them. That way they can gain a better understanding of the content of the material declared in the document.
Teacher-student and student-student interactions are illustrated throughout the class period to ensure the students' comprehension of the material. The teacher, at the center of the room, will ask each student to read a main idea out loud so the students can gain a verbal understanding of what was stated in the Declaration. After the main ideas have been addressed, the teacher will invite the students into open discussion about the main ideas as well as the objectives by the Founding Fathers. The teacher will then ask the students to discuss among themselves, in pairs, how they interpret the main ideas and make sure that they have a good understanding of what the main ideas of the Declaration of Independence are about. While the students are in discussion, the teacher will walk around and listen to the ideas and facts being stated and see if information needs to be clarified or questions asked to broaden the critical thinking of the students and add to their knowledge of the subject.
III. The Learning Activities
The first step to the learning activity is to ask the question, What is the significance of the date July 4th 1776? At this point a copy of the Declaration of Independence will be passed out to every student and they will be asked to read through the document. As the teacher I will truly begin the lesson by focusing on one section of the Declaration. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are, Life, Liberty, and The pursuit of Happiness."
I will focus on the previously stated phrases and words. Self-evident, all men are created equal, unalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I will have the students write down what they think these words and phrases mean to them. We will then discuss their interpretations of these words among the entire class. Lastly we as a class will dicuss some modern ideas of equality and freedom. Having the class state examples of what they think equality and freedom means today in the United States compared to then (1776) in the United States.
The teachers job during this lesson is to keep the students focused on the 6 points we are discussing.
The artifacts that will be produced will be a written definition from each student on what they think these phrases and words mean. This will help the teacher to gather an understanding of where his/her students are at concerning the Declaration of Independence. The students will also be able to leave with a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Hopefully they will consider it important enough to hold on to.
IV. Assessment Strategies/Items
Before and after quizzes will be provided to the students in order to assess student improvement in their learning of the Declaration of Independence. Before the discussion a quiz will be provided to the students so the teacher can gain a better understanding of where each student is in their knowledge of the history of the Declaration of Independence. After the discussion the students will be provided with another quiz of all the material they learned, which will include information regarding the document itself, the history of the Founding Fathers, and knowledge of the history of that era. The results of this quiz will be used to determine the amount of facts the students learned. The students' ability to discuss a variety of facts in answering the questions (and correct facts at that) provides evidence that they were able to master the material and that their knowledge of that particular part of history is correct.
V.
I particularly enjoyed the lesson called "How Is My Sandwich Like a Story?" What I thought was clever was that the teacher was using her sandwich as an example of how a story is formed (the story's building blocks). Using her sandwich is an example of how relating real life situations or objects can be useful in a discussion because it allows students to gain a better understanding of the material they are being taught. I appreciate it when teachers relate life experiences into discussions because such stories make the discussions more engaging. - jkrzeminski
I also chose the lesson called "How Is My Sandwich Like a Story?." What I found extremely entertaining was the way that the teacher got the children engaged in what really is kind of a hokey discussion. She was able to draw the students attention away from the mundane facts of her sandwich, and apply the concept of the sandwich to the stories that they were currently writing. The teacher was able to get the students to use the idea of a sandwich having a beginning, middle, and end and apply that to their own stories. I found the idea of the sandwich very engaging even to me. The teacher obviously had a very good idea about what would catch her students interest, and used that idea to further her teaching strategy. I also appreciate it when teachers are able to relate their own life experiences into discussions that truly interest the students involved.(Jonathan Makin)
Title: The Signing of the Declaration of Independence in a History Class
Authors:
1. Jonathan M2. Jessica K.
(Parts 1 and 3 written by Jonathan M; parts 2 and 4 written by Jessica K.)
Use the guiding questions that we came up with in class to describe a standards-based lesson. This lesson could be one that you make up or one that you watch on video. Important: Be sure that your learning objective aligns with a curriculum standard.
I. Standard Benchmark(s) and Learning Objective:
DEMONSTRATE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRINCIPLES ARTICULATED IN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY:**
Explaining the major ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence and their sources. [Marshal evidence of antecedent circumstances]
Demonstrating the fundamental contradictions between the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the realities of chattel slavery. [Consider multiple perspectives]
Drawing upon the principles in the Declaration of Independence to construct a sound historical argument regarding whether it justified American independence. [Interrogate historical data]
Comparing the Declaration of Independence with the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and constructing an argument evaluating their importance to the spread of constitutional democracies in the 19th and 20th centuries. [Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas]
These standards taken from Joyce Appleby, The National Standards for US History.
Now obviously all of these standards cannot be met in one class session but the main idea of our lesson is to allow the students a chance to achieve a greater understanding of July 4th, 1776. Our objectives are as follows.
Students need to learn the definition of the following terms and phrases:
"self evident"
"all men are created equal"
"unalienable rights"
"life"
"liberty"
"the pursuit of happiness"
II. The Learning Environment
In order to teach the Declaration of Independence in a valuable way, the organization of the classroom is such that the students are able to interact with each other, pay attention to the teacher, and take note of historical material. Desks for each student should be placed together in the class room in the form of a U, with the teacher placed at the opening of the U, so that the students can easily interact with one another, pay attention to the teacher, and engage in class discussions all at the same time. Behind the teacher and facing the students should be a blackboard; hung onto it should be a poster or pictorial representation of the final version of the Declaration of Independence so students have an idea of what it truly looked like. To provide an even better understanding of who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence should be a poster of the painting of the meeting of the Founding Fathers. These posters will provide a better way to help the students understand the topic. In addition to posters, what should be provided to each student is a piece of paper that has on it the main ideas stated within the Declaration of Independence, in bullet point form, clearly written and stated in wording that makes sense to them. That way they can gain a better understanding of the content of the material declared in the document.Teacher-student and student-student interactions are illustrated throughout the class period to ensure the students' comprehension of the material. The teacher, at the center of the room, will ask each student to read a main idea out loud so the students can gain a verbal understanding of what was stated in the Declaration. After the main ideas have been addressed, the teacher will invite the students into open discussion about the main ideas as well as the objectives by the Founding Fathers. The teacher will then ask the students to discuss among themselves, in pairs, how they interpret the main ideas and make sure that they have a good understanding of what the main ideas of the Declaration of Independence are about. While the students are in discussion, the teacher will walk around and listen to the ideas and facts being stated and see if information needs to be clarified or questions asked to broaden the critical thinking of the students and add to their knowledge of the subject.
III. The Learning Activities
The first step to the learning activity is to ask the question, What is the significance of the date July 4th 1776? At this point a copy of the Declaration of Independence will be passed out to every student and they will be asked to read through the document. As the teacher I will truly begin the lesson by focusing on one section of the Declaration. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are, Life, Liberty, and The pursuit of Happiness."
I will focus on the previously stated phrases and words. Self-evident, all men are created equal, unalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I will have the students write down what they think these words and phrases mean to them. We will then discuss their interpretations of these words among the entire class. Lastly we as a class will dicuss some modern ideas of equality and freedom. Having the class state examples of what they think equality and freedom means today in the United States compared to then (1776) in the United States.
The teachers job during this lesson is to keep the students focused on the 6 points we are discussing.
The artifacts that will be produced will be a written definition from each student on what they think these phrases and words mean. This will help the teacher to gather an understanding of where his/her students are at concerning the Declaration of Independence. The students will also be able to leave with a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Hopefully they will consider it important enough to hold on to.
IV. Assessment Strategies/Items
Before and after quizzes will be provided to the students in order to assess student improvement in their learning of the Declaration of Independence. Before the discussion a quiz will be provided to the students so the teacher can gain a better understanding of where each student is in their knowledge of the history of the Declaration of Independence. After the discussion the students will be provided with another quiz of all the material they learned, which will include information regarding the document itself, the history of the Founding Fathers, and knowledge of the history of that era. The results of this quiz will be used to determine the amount of facts the students learned. The students' ability to discuss a variety of facts in answering the questions (and correct facts at that) provides evidence that they were able to master the material and that their knowledge of that particular part of history is correct.V.
I particularly enjoyed the lesson called "How Is My Sandwich Like a Story?" What I thought was clever was that the teacher was using her sandwich as an example of how a story is formed (the story's building blocks). Using her sandwich is an example of how relating real life situations or objects can be useful in a discussion because it allows students to gain a better understanding of the material they are being taught. I appreciate it when teachers relate life experiences into discussions because such stories make the discussions more engaging. -I also chose the lesson called "How Is My Sandwich Like a Story?." What I found extremely entertaining was the way that the teacher got the children engaged in what really is kind of a hokey discussion. She was able to draw the students attention away from the mundane facts of her sandwich, and apply the concept of the sandwich to the stories that they were currently writing. The teacher was able to get the students to use the idea of a sandwich having a beginning, middle, and end and apply that to their own stories. I found the idea of the sandwich very engaging even to me. The teacher obviously had a very good idea about what would catch her students interest, and used that idea to further her teaching strategy. I also appreciate it when teachers are able to relate their own life experiences into discussions that truly interest the students involved.(Jonathan Makin)
SBLD Eval - Jessica Jon